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Photo by William J. Hauser

• Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Bryan(c) vs. Mark Henry vs. The Big Show

This was fairly short for a World Heavyweight Championship match, due to Mark Henry being injured on the go-home edition of Smackdown, but this was a really fun way to start the show. The story of this match was that Show and Henry (individually) kept destroying Bryan with power moves, and Bryan, being the much smaller heel, kept trying to escape the cage as quickly as possible. They utilized the cage heavily, with Show repeatedly tossing Bryan into the walls. Show splashed Henry against the side of the cage twice early on. Bryan tried to escape by walking out the door but Henry pulled him back in and sling-shotted him against the cage with the ropes. Bryan hit a tornado DDT on Show out of the corner and used the LeBell Lock but Henry broke it up. Henry went for the World’s Strongest Slam on Bryan by Show hit the WMD punch on Henry for a near fall. The end of the match was Bryan climbing over the top of the cage and Show following in pursuit. Bryan got over the top and Show tried to pull him back in by Bryan’s arms with one hand, but eventually lost his grip and Bryan dropped to the floor for the win. Good, fast-paced opener with heavy use of the cage. Bryan didn’t get a tremendous amount of offense in but this was a good heel victory as his slow burn turn continues. Match Time: 9:07     Star Rating: ***

• Natalya, Beth Phoenix, and The Bella Twins vs. Kelly Kelly, Eve, Tamina, and Alicia Fox

This was unadvertised, but with only 4 matches being announced in advance, a filler Divas match was expected. Eve hit her usual spots and Beth got her knees up to block a senton. One of the Bellas put Alicia in a terrible-looking arm bar. Kelly hit a facebuster and a sloppy head scissors. All of the girls then started brawling on the outside and Kelly hit a plancha off the top onto the pile. Beth then hit the Glam Slam on Kelly in the ring for the pin. Typical crappy Divas match. All of the offense from everyone here except for Beth looked awful. They booked the right finish, at least. Match Time: 5:28     Star Rating: *

• John Cena vs. Kane

Things were looking bad before the bell even rang for this one given how horrible this storyline has been for the past month on Raw. Both guys unload with punches at the start before Kane takes the advantage. Kane works over Cena with a chin lock and hits a sidewalk slam followed by the clothesline off the top. Crowd wasn’t into either guy really, but they liked seeing Cena being on the receiving end of moves. Cena goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle but Kane grabs him by the throat. Kane big boots Cena for 2 before they head up top. Cena knocks Kane to the mat and hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle off the top. Kane escapes the Attitude Adjustment and they brawl on the floor and up the entranceway. The referee counts out both guys, so the match ends in a double count-out. Wow, boring match with a crap finish like that? I know what you’re thinking, but it gets even better. Cena and Kane brawl to the backstage area. Kane eventually takes out Cena by hitting him repeatedly with a chair. He then barges into Zack Ryder’s dressing room. Ryder is in a wheelchair to sell the chokeslam through the stage on Raw. Kane then WHEELS Ryder from the backstage area to the ring. Kane throws Ryder into the ring. Eve then comes out begging Kane not to hurt Ryder. Fans couldn’t care less. Kane hits the Tombstone on Ryder. Cena, totally no selling the beating backstage, runs to the ring and gets chokeslammed by Kane. They did the stretcher job for Ryder. THIS STORYLINE SUCKS AND IT MUST CONTINUE. The match itself was pretty much what was expected from these guys until the double countout, with a few nice moments but mostly dull, plodding action. Terrible stuff overall. Match Time: 10:56     Star Rating: *1/4

• Drew McIntyre vs. Brodus Clay

Like the Divas match, this was also an unadvertised match to fill time. Brodus came out dancing with the girls. Drew is all over Brodus at the start with punches, but Brodus comes back with the exploder, corner splash, and flying cross body for the quick victory. He then does the whole dance routine afterwards. Fine squash match here, basically the exact same match Brodus has been having since he debuted the new gimmick. Match Time: 1:05     Star Rating: N/A

• WWE Championship match with John Laurinaitis as Special Guest Referee: CM Punk(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler

Before the match, Laurinaitis introduced a second referee to officiate the match while he stood on the outside. Thank God for this match after the show had been dragging so much after the opener. Both guys tease their finishers in the opening minutes before Punk hits a suicide dive. Punk is yanked off the top rope and takes a scary bump almost on his head. Ziggler hits the repeated elbow drops and goes for the sleeper hold. Punk tries for the Anaconda Vise, but Ziggler reverses into the sleeper. Ziggler goes for the famouser but Punk counters with an awesome Liger bomb. Ziggler counters the Go to Sleep and rolls through a cross body attempt for 2. Punk hits a roundhouse kick and the Savage elbow off the top for a pair of near falls. The ref is then bumped and Punk puts Ziggler in the Anaconda Vise. Ziggler taps but Laurinaitis is busy tending to the other referee. Punk then counters a roll-up with one of his own but there’s still no ref. Laurinaitis and the other ref get in the ring, and Punk lifts up Ziggler for the GTS, swings him into Laurinaitis, and hits the move. The other ref, however, is still down. Punk goes for another GTS but Ziggler counters with a famouser. The ref comes to this time, but Punk kicks out. Punk catapults Ziggler into the corner and hits another GTS for the win, with Laurinaitis counting the pin along with the other referee. Good storytelling with Laurinaitis and Punk, and also some really unique spots. Ziggler and Punk have great chemistry with each other and the Laurinaitis stuff didn’t intruded on the match too much. The last few minutes did make Ziggler look a little weak due to how much offense he took from Punk, but the match was very good and showed that Ziggler belongs in this type of high-profile PPV match. Match Time: 14:32     Star Rating: ***1/2

• 30-Man Royal Rumble Match

This was far from one of the best Rumbles, but it was fairly entertaining for the most part. Lack of star power was a glaring problem throughout. Basically until the very end the match was mostly played for comedy. Santino Marella and Mick Foley had a standoff with the whole Socko vs. Cobra thing. Cody Rhodes and The Miz lasted deep into the match until Big Show, who was the final entrant, eliminated both of them. They teased Alberto Del Rio making his return, but when his music hit it turned out to be Ricardo Rodriguez, who then did a comedy sequence with Santino. A highlight was Kofi Kingston almost being eliminated, but catching himself on the floor with his hands and doing a handstand back towards the apron to get back into the ring. Surprise entrants included Jerry Lawler, Booker T, The Great Khali, Michael Cole, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, The Road Dogg, and the returning Kharma. The comedy was entertaining for the first 20 minutes but once it became clear that comedy was the direction of the entire match, the concept wore out and the match lost a lot of its intrigue because most of the participants were guys with no credibility who were rarely seen on television, or they were surprise entrants who were just there for no reason. The main problem was that until the very end, there were almost no wrestlers in the ring who had any chance of being victorious. The final four was Big Show, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, and Sheamus. Orton eliminated Show after an RKO but Jericho immediately sent Orton over the top. Jericho and Sheamus then had a great sequence to close the match with a ton of back and forth action and near-elimination spots. Jericho ended up hanging on the ropes and Sheamus knocked him to the floor with a Brogue Kick to win the match. I think Jericho definitely should have gone over here, as Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan doesn’t sound like a great choice right now as a Wrestlemania title match. But there’s still 2 months to go so we’ll see what the match ends up being. Overall this Rumble had a great conclusion but everything else about it made it feel like a battle royal on WWE Superstars. Match Time: 54:56     Star Rating: ***1/2

Overall PPV Rating: 6.25/10

By Janet Angel, PhD-Nutritional Biochemist

You might be surprised to discover that athletes are often nutritionally deficient or nutritionally imbalanced. Recent scientific studies are proving that even the most conditioned athletes; those that boast top nutritional status, high energy output may be overworking their organs and systems and creating greater free radical damage along with inadequate nutrient absorption.

It doesn’t matter what type of exhaustive athletic training a person participates in, what matters most is that protein pathways may be disturbed and therefore amino acid breakdown and transmission suffer…muscles suffer. When micro nutrients become unavailable metabolism is inadequate and therefore the body is stressed making the immune system less than vibrant.

As we age the human body does not manufacture as many enzymes and often by the time a person is in their thirties digestive upsets occur and later more dramatic insufficiencies and symptoms appear.  Amino acids are the building blocks to life yet even those athletes consuming huge amounts of protein in any form will be less likely to fully metabolize protein without the appropriate enzymes available to assist. You may not know that your body is lacking enzymes…most likely it is.

Once food is heated above 119 degrees all of the enzymes are destroyed; the average American diet contains mainly of cooked foods and processed foods which are enzyme exhausted. Other issues play a role as well; for example, a person may consume several different types of foods at one sitting making the call for multiple enzymes critical to absorption.  Only raw foods contain enzymes and only enough to break down that specific food. Human beings will always be dependent upon exogenous enzymes, those existing outside the human body. Professional athletes, including professional body builders around the world, understand the importance of adding a quality multi-dimensional enzyme formula to their health regime. Athletes around the globe are choosing AbsorbAid Platinum® to help get lean, stay lean, build muscle and be stronger longer!!

AbsorbAid® is a 100% vegetarian complex enzyme formula to help turn more of what you eat into energy! AbsorbAid® has been clinically tested and scientifically proven by Roche and Mayo Clinic laboratories to increase the absorption of vital nutrients by up to 71%!! AbsorbAid® Platinum helps the body safely and effectively digest and absorb proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vegetables, beans, and dairy and reduces them to valuable micro-nutrient form.

AbsorbAid® Platinum is so unique because it is not destroyed by stomach acids and therefore reaches the small intestine where nutrients are distributed into the blood.  Enzymes catalyze all metabolic processes and we cannot live without them! AbsorbAid® has been the leader in enzymes since 1995 and hundreds of thousands of people have used it with great success in improving digestion and ultimately their health. When your body gets the benefit of having more vital nutrients available for metabolism every system works better!

Many athletes put an unnatural demand upon the human body whether it be lifting hundreds of pounds, doing more repetitions, running a marathon, or getting lean using less than healthful methods.  AbsorbAid® Platinum is a comprehensive digestive blend of 12 proprietary enzymes and 2 heat stable probiotics to help support digestion and your immune system!

AbsorbAid® is highly recommended by physicians and trainers all over the world. AbsorbAid® will improve the absorption of nutrients from other supplements too – so  it is a wonderful complement to your entire health program.

Don’t miss out on what the competition is doing to get the edge. Even Olympic Teams are incorporating enzymes into their nutrient regime. Whether you are an Olympic Athlete, a professional sports player, or someone that just wants to perform and look like one—-you will want to add AbsorbAid® Platinum to your diet.

If you are suffering with aches and pains, muscle fatigue, recuperating from an illness or injury…your body needs more enzymes. PROTECT yourself and give your body what it needs to get the job done faster and more completely.  Order AbsorbAid® Platinum today!!! (800)827-7656  www.Naturessources.com 

Picture your hair as a garden – there is a growing cycle and there are factors that might affect this process. Among some of these we can mention:  chemicals, medication, illness, infections, and others. Anything that can interfere the cycle could cause hair loss.

On a daily basis people lose between 50 to 100 strands of hair, while washing the hair or combing it. This number could increase up to 250 strands of hair but a greater amount could raise an alarm that you might be losing more hair than usual.

It would be time to review your diet and make sure your daily intakes of vegetables and fruits are the correct ones. Also, adding some vitamins would be a good advice to follow and try to stay away from hair chemicals…look for unprocessed products instead.

There are ways to identify the Hair loss condition as well as plenty of ways to prevent and control it.

The New York Giants and New England Patriots will face one another on Sunday, February 5 in Indianapolis.

Our NFL coverage continues the following week when Brad Smith, wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, joins us.

MuscleSport Radio can be heard live every Tuesday from 1:00 to 1:30 PM Eastern time on www.blogtalkradio.com and all episodes are archived and available free on Blog Talk Radio, MuscleSport Mag and iTunes. Join us on the air by calling in at (347) 884-8157.

MuscleSport Radio has enjoyed a steady flow of special guests since launching, with famous names in the bodybuilding and sports industry such as Samir Bannout, Bill Grant, Boyer Coe, Troy Brown, Ronnie Coleman, Gunter Schlierkamp, Leo Ingram, Heather Mae French, Cathy LeFrancois, Colette Nelson, Cathy LeFrancois, Dena Westerfield, Marshall Faulk, Bill Romanowski, Tony Mandarich, “Leapin’” Lanny Poffo, Taylor Boyd, Steve Michalik, Dan Lurie, Emy Silvagni, Rae Holitt, Tom Terwilliger, Dan “The Beast” Severn, Kevin Levrone, Layne Norton, Randy Roach, Debi Laszewski and more.

Photos of Cutler from the Olympia clearly showed swelling and redness in the area and it was reportedly suffered during a photo shoot. The injury was still apparent a few weeks later at the inaugural Sheru Classic in India, at which Cutler again was the runner-up to Heath.

That was back in September. Cutler is scheduled to go under the knife in February and be back in the gym by the end of March. Considering that he has competed only once a year, that should be more than enough time for him to get ready for the 2012 O.

But with the torch already passed to Heath and Cutler being 39 by the time that show rolls around, it would have been a wiser decision to have the procedure done earlier. Muscle tears like this need to be surgically repaired and waiting is not going to change anything for the better.

If Cutler has any chance of regaining the title for the second time (he took it back from Dexter Jackson in 2009), then he is going to need as much time as possible to get there. Losing the last four months cannot be changed, so Cutler had better hope that his recovery goes well without any setbacks. He doesn’t have any wiggle room now and has to be on point at every stage of his preparation.

Score Fighting Series veterans Rich Clementi, Josh Hill, Alex Ricci, Shane Campbell and Lyndon Whitlock are all slated to be in action. Opponents for all of them are awaiting approval by the Ontario Athletic Commission and will be announced shortly.

Alessio is a Vancouver native and trains out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Nicknamed “The Natural”, he has competed in the WEC, UFC and PRIDE with 10 of his 33 career victories coming by KO and 15 via submission. He recently dropped to the lightweight division where he scored a win over Luiz Firmino in November.

Healy is a WEC veteran and a member of Team Quest where he trains with MMA legend Matt Lindland and UFC star Chael Sonnen. Like his twin brother and fellow scrapper Pat, Healy has a dominant ground game but prefers to use utilize his wrestling to keep the fight standing.

The match-up was originally supposed to take place in December but was postponed when Healy suffered an injury during training. Alessio has been vocal in praising his opponent and looks forward to fighting again in Canada. “Ryan is a tough guy with good boxing skills and he’s well conditioned with no quit,” says Alessio. “This is a great fight for me to showcase all my skills, I feel like I’m better everywhere and I’m coming to finish!”

Tickets, priced from $30, go on sale on Tuesday, January 24th at the Copps Coliseum box office and online atwww.ticketmaster.ca.

For more information, please contact:

Mike Afromowitz
Witz End Communications, Inc.
917-566-8754
mafromowitz@yourwitzend.com

Sharon Lassman
Score Media Inc.
416-977-6787 x2217
slassman@scoremedia.com

About Score Media Inc.
Score Media is a media company committed to delivering interactive and authentic sports entertainment. Score Media’s primary asset, theScore Television Network (“theScore”), is a national specialty television service providing sports news, information, highlights and live event programming in more than 6.8 million homes across Canada. The Company’s digital media assets include theScore.com and the industry leading mobile sports applications ScoreMobile, ScoreMobile FC and SportsTap which reach over three million unique users per month. Growing from a team of 60 in 1997 to over 290 employees in 2012, Score Media is a revolutionizing interactive media company.
About The Score Fighting Series.

The Score Fighting Series is a mixed martial arts promotion operated by Score Fighting Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Score Media Inc. The Score Fighting Series (SFS) features fighters from North America and beyond with the focus on showcasing both established veterans and the sport’s best young athletes. The Series can currently be seen across Canada on theScore on Thursdays at 4pm ET and Saturdays at 1pm ET. Individual fights are also available in the MMA section on theScore.com.

“Our partnership with DREAM forms a promotional bond with the most prominent Japanese MMA organization,” said Billy Kelly, President of ProElite and COO of Stratus Media Group Inc. (SMDI:OTCBB) — parent company of ProElite. “Dream has developed a stable of great fighters on their roster and a strong team behind the scenes. With this exchange, the two organizations are building a cultural and fight-event bridge that our fans are sure to welcome.  W

The initial fighter exchange debuts this Saturday, January 21, in Hawaii when DREAM star and Japanese fan favorite Ikuhisa “Minowaman” Minowa takes on Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove in the ProElite main event at the Neal Blaisdell Center.

“I’m really honored to join the partnership with ProElite,” said DREAM Event Producer Keiichi Sasahara.  “It is important for us to exploit Asian or Pan-pacific markets by improving relationships with foreign organizations like ProElite. We would like to make this fighter exchange program a first step to generate synergistic success for both organizations.”

DREAM Light heavyweight tournament runner-up Tatsuya Mizuno will take on Ilima Maiava, also on the Honolulu fight card while the always exciting voice of Japanese MMA, Lenne Hardt, will be joining the shows as the fighter walk out announcer.   The ProElite main fight card will be televised live on HDNet at 10:00 P.M. EST.  Tickets are on sale at the Neal Blaisdell Center box office, all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), www.ticketmaster.com, andwww.proelite.com.

ABOUT PROELITE

Founded in 2006, ProElite has been a major global force in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA). ProElite, based in Los Angeles, California, continues its legacy to hold key domestic and international live MMA events. The company owns U.K. based MMA brand Cage Rage and is a significant stakeholder in Spirit MC in South Korea. ProElite signed a broadcast deal with HD NET in October 2011 to show our fights live in the highest quality video for consumers and will continue this great partnership into our future events. ProElite also produced one of the highest rated televised broadcasts of a live major network MMA event.

www.proelite.com

ABOUT STRATUS

Headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA, with offices in Los Angeles, California; New York City, NY; Geneva, Switzerland; and Perugia, Italy, Stratus Media Group, Inc. (SMDI) is an owner, operator, developer, producer, and marketer of live entertainment events. In addition, the company owns Stratus White, a new standard in personal lifestyle and card services for the global affluent. Available by invitation only, Stratus White is a discreet, elite member & partner community providing exclusive and unparalleled service and access across the luxury product & travel, social, sporting, cultural and philanthropic areas of life, including events and experiences.
www.stratusmediagroup.com
www.stratuswhite.com

ABOUT DREAM

Headquartered in Tokyo, DREAM is the only major Japanese major mixed martial arts organization started in 2008 and has held 20 events since. World-class fighters such as Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hiroyuki Takaya and Gegard Mousasi have been fighting for the organization. DREAM is widely regarded as the top MMA event in Asia and aiming for Asian market in 2012 in order to take a leadership to bring the Asian MMA scene to the next step.

www.dreamofficial.com

But that doesn’t mean we can’t play a little fantasy football, right? The recent backlash from an anonymous disgruntled Jets player criticizing quarterback Mark Sanchez and his work ethic may have been bad enough in a tabloid town such as New York, but the minute Santonio…I mean he mentioned Peyton Manning’s name as a possible replacement, the Big Apple team that missed the playoffs actually took center stage on the back page headlines for a day.

Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News spoke to the still-unnamed player who said, “We have to bring in another quarterback who will make him (Sanchez) work hard at practice. He’s lazy and content because he knows he’s not going to be benched.

“If you can get a healthy 36-year-old Peyton Manning, then, hell yeah, I would trade Sanchez.” 

Sanchez may have taken a step back this year, as did the entire organization after two consecutive AFC Championship appearances, but their quarterback cannot be held totally responsible. He did pull a few games out in the fourth quarter and cannot be faulted for a shaky offensive line and inconsistent defense. But when you’re the fifth overall pick in the NFL Draft and have the specter of Joe Namath always hovering over your shoulder, then you should expect some flak when things don’t go well. But not from one of your teammates.

Either way, a healthy Peyton Manning would be appealing to just about every team in the league besides a handful and that is attributed more to what the former NFL MVP can bring to the table rather than the inaccuracies of their current signal callers.

The 2-14 Indianapolis Colts earned the right to draft quarterback Andrew Luck first overall and will in all likelihood do just that. But there are no guarantees that Manning will be fully cleared to take snaps once training camp opens in the summer and if he is, then Luck can sit and watch from one of the best.

One hit can knock Manning out and it would behoove the Colts to have a back-up capable of coming in and, if not winning, give the fans something to cheer about. It obviously wasn’t the case with the likes of Kerry Collins and Curtis Painter behind center and even the ‘heroics’ of Dan Orlovsky late in the season will not transcend into 2012. And bringing in a young quarterback like Sanchez makes absolutely no sense for the Colts if they choose Luck. Sanchez is neither an experienced veteran or back-up.

So figure on Indy selecting Luck and keeping Manning around to eventually pass the baton, but just not right away.

In New York, former Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano takes over for the much-maligned Brian Schottenheimer as offense coordinator. This move will buy Sanchez at least one more season before the boo birds really come down hard on him if his struggles continue. General manager Mike Tannenbaum is not going to give up on his prize pick from only three years ago.

Sure, it will be fun to throw potential moves like this around, but when it is all said and done, both quarterbacks will be back where they ended the season.

Photo by Bill Menzel

The 27 year-old Los Angeles resident will kick off his new contract when he squares off with top contender Simon Marcus (42-2-2 (24 KO’s) of Toronto, Ontario Canada in the main event of Lion Fight Promotions: Battle In The Desert 5, Live from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Sat., Feb. 25.

Ticket on-sale information for Battle In The Desert 5, Live from The Joint will be announced soon as will the remainder of the fight card.
“Lion Fight Promotions is taking the bull by the horns as far as bringing the sport of Muay Thai to mainstream America and making it a major sport here, so it’s the perfect home for me because Muay Thai is my life and I want to fight the best fighters out there on a big stage,” said the 6-foot-3 Schilling, who has been referred to as “Muay Thai’s version of Mike Tyson” for his merciless style of fighting in the ring.
“Joe Schilling is one of the best talents in the sport of Muay Thai today,” said Lion Fight Promotions President Scott Kent. “He’s explosive, brutal and he has a burning desire to become one of the all-time greats in our incredible sport.  We’re excited to have him on board with Lion Fight Promotions for the long run and we’re looking forward to putting on some great shows with him.”

Schilling is coming off a stunning first round KO of former K-1 World Grand Prix tournament champion and decorated Muay Thai champion Kaoklai Kaennorsing of Bangkok, Thailand on Oct 21 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.  Schilling put Kaennorsing down for the first time just 25 seconds into the matchup with a powerful right hook to the head and, a second time with a straight right hand 42 seconds into the fight.

After recovering from the second knockdown, Kaennorsing did his best to tie up the aggressive Schilling, who found his mark once again at 2:46 of the first round, crumbling Kaennorsing with another hard right hand that prompted the referee to stop the fight and award Schilling his greatest victory to date.

The Feb. 25 fight with Marcus will mark Schilling’s second career fight with Lion Fight Promotions.  Last Aug. 20, Schilling captured the WBC USA light heavyweight title by scoring a brutal first round (2:38) KO on Brandon Banda with a straight left knee strike to the jaw that rendered Banda unconscious on the canvas.

“I’m not going to outpoint (Marcus).  I’m going to knock him out.  That’s what I do,” said Schilling.
Schilling, a native of Dayton, Ohio, comes from the school of hard knocks.  Raised by a single mother, Schilling, the youngest of three boys, was expelled from four different schools before reaching high school when he suddenly discovered his passion that would give him direction and focus – martial arts, namely Muay Thai style kickboxing.

Not long after being kicked out of his home at age 17, Schilling acted on his dream of relocating to California.  He touched down in Los Angeles where he found a Muay Thai trainer in Mark Komuro.

Together, Schilling and Komuro eventually converted a former jail in Lincoln Heights, a lower income section of Los Angeles, into a Muay Thai gym and named their training camp “The Yard,” after the outdoor location in jailhouses where prisoners do assigned work.

About Lion Fight Promotions
Lion Fight Promotions is a Las Vegas, Nevada-based world championship Muay Thai kickboxing promotion dedicated to producing matchups between the best Muay Thai fighters in the world in their respective weight classes.  Led by former Las Vegas casino executive, Scott Kent, the promotional company has been developed in consultation with Christine Toledo, one of the sport’s most popular champions and star of the Oxygen Network reality television show Fight Girls.  Both Kent and Toledo share a common passion for Muay Thai and are working together to promote the sport.

About Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas’ off-strip playground, just minutes and less than three miles from McCarran International Airport.  The premier destination entertainment resort is owned by Brookfield Real Estate Finance Fund II, a division of Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) and managed by WG-Harmon, LLC, a subsidiary of Warner Gaming, LLC.  Built in 1995, the property completed a $750 million expansion in 2010. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino offers an energetic entertainment and gaming experience with the services and amenities associated with a boutique luxury resort hotel. The property is known for its innovative nightlife and music scene where acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Incubus, Linkin Park, Foo Fighters and Carlos Santana have all performed.  Features of the property include an 11-story Casino Tower with 640 guest rooms, 17-story Paradise Tower with 490 rooms and suites and the all-suite HRH Tower with 359 suites, eight spa villas and seven penthouse suites; 72,000 square feet of casino space; 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention space; more than $3 million in rare music memorabilia throughout the hotel; the luxurious Vanity Nightclub; Reliquary Water Sanctuary & Spa; Reliquary Salon; 4.8 acres of tropical pool paradise; REHAB, the trendsetting Sunday afternoon pool party; The Joint concert venue; Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.; restaurants including traditional steakhouse with an edge 35 Steaks + Martinis, tapas hotspot Johnny Smalls, Mexican cantina Pink Taco, ‘round the clock diner Mr. Lucky’s Café and world-renowned Nobu; numerous cocktail lounges including The Lounge across from Pink Taco, Peacock Lounge and Blitzed Sports Lounge; and a state-of-the-art Fitness Center.  For room availability and additional information call 800.HRD.ROCK (800.473.7625) or visit www.hardrockhotel.com.

Source: Mike Afromowitz/Lion Fight Promotions

Photo: Bennie Palmore II/Lion Fight Promotions